On Mon, May 05, 2008 at 12:58:25AM -0400, Mitchell Laks wrote: > I tend to print out a lot of documentation on the software for > projects that I work on. Therefore I go through alot of laserjet > cartidges on my postscript compatible hp laserjet 1200 printer. > > My latest cartridge just needs to be replaced again. > > I am tired of paying so much money for the new laser ink cartiridges > each time.
Do you need laser-quality for anything but the final print? I use a non-ps (ghostscript and a printfilter take care of everything) Epson LQ-2180 24-pin impact printer, wide platten. Good quality wide-platten printers are easier to come by on eBay than narrow-platten. Mine cost $100. New it would cost $1000. Epson told me that not much changes between versions. In fact, the MTBF doesn't change much. The wide-platten ribbons last longer for the same number of characters and don't cost much more than the narrow. I think I paid $24 CDN for the ribbon and its good for about 8,000 pages of plain type. The printer has multiple paper paths: rear push, front push, top-front push-pull, top-bottom pull, single-sheet front, single-sheet top. You can get sheet feeders for the top to use standard copier paper, or you can get a roll paper holder. Changing paper paths for those that support "parking" is as simple as pushing a load/unload button, and moving a lever. The paper will load from the desired path automatically with the next job. There is no paper waste between jobs; the printer has a tear-off button which advances the paper for tear-off and then returns the paper to top-of-form. The printer is capable of 360x360 but gs-gpl + apsfilter only does 360x180. IIRC, gs-esp and foomatic-printfilter will do the 360x360. I find the printer does about 6 pages per minute when doing ps (graphics). Doug. -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]